


The Apprentice Returns Home

by BarbaraFett



Series: The Continuing Adventures of Anakin Skywalker, Guardian Spirit [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Force Bond (Star Wars), Force Ghost Anakin Skywalker, Force Ghost Obi-Wan Kenobi, Force Ghosts, Gen, Master & Padawan Relationship(s), Post-Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-10-23
Packaged: 2019-01-21 22:04:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12466900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BarbaraFett/pseuds/BarbaraFett
Summary: Ahsoka Tano lived a full and interesting life as a Jedi Padawan, a Commander in the Clone Wars, a Rebel leader, and finally as a peacefully-retired civilian. Now, near the end of her life, she reaches out for the Force and is surprised to find not only comfort, but a warm welcome from old friends.





	The Apprentice Returns Home

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Transition States](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7852696) by [tanarill](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tanarill/pseuds/tanarill). 



> Starting with this entry in my ongoing series, I have adopted the amazing KaelinaLovesLomaris's convention for indicating different kinds of speech:  
> "Normal speech is in quotation marks and not italicized."  
>  _Characters' internal thoughts are in italics with no quotation marks._  
>  _"Telepathic speech between characters is in italics, with quotation marks."_

_"Hello?"_

A distress call radiates into the Force, rousing me out of my usual reverie.

_"Is there anyone out there?"_

Who could that be? It isn't any of my family or friends - if they wanted to speak with me, they would be reaching out for me specifically, along one of our Force bonds. This call is unfocused, simply broadcast into the Light, for whoever might be attuned to it at the moment to receive.

Then why did it attract my attention first? Not Luke's, or even Rey's?

 _Because it really meant, 'Is there anyone I know out there?'_ I suddenly realize. All at once, an old Force bond reconnects itself in the back of my mind - one that has lain disused for so long, I'd thought it had ceased to exist completely.

 _It can't be,_ I think. _I thought she'd have to be dead by now. ...Wait. Didn't Tarkin say something like that about Obi-Wan? I told him not to underestimate the Force, didn't I?_

 _"Stay right where you are,"_ I send back to the one who sent the distress call. _"I'll be right there."_

I follow the thin, weak Force bond to its other end. It leads me to a bright, living, peaceful world, covered in colorful grasses. Now that I'm here and our bond has reawakened, it's not hard to find her. She's in a room in a medical facility, which is filled with the sound of a respirator - _ugh, there's something I hoped I'd never have to listen to again_ \- but the sound is coming from the other side of a curtain. The woman I'm here to see is lying in a bed, breathing slowly, but on her own, with no respirators or any other machinery attached to her. _A wise choice,_ I think.

Somehow, seeing how much she has aged comes as much more of a shock than seeing how much Obi-Wan had aged, all those years ago. Then again, at the time, I felt nothing toward him but nineteen years' worth of hatred and the desire for revenge. All of that has left me now. I certainly can't hate _her_.

It occurs to me that she has lived considerably longer than either Obi-Wan or I did. Good for her... but I can tell that that her time is nearly at its end. Perhaps that was why she reached out into the Force - to see if she could still touch it, and find any comfort in it.

I'm astonished when I realize what I now have the opportunity to do. I focus, manifesting the illusory image of my true self - _I hope she remembers me_ \- and send a reply across our bond. _"Yes. There is someone out there. The Force is still with you."_

"Ahsoka?" I say aloud. "Can you hear me? Can you see me?"

She raises her head weakly, then lets out a short scream of shock. "No! Don't be afraid of me!" I say, sending her the feeling of calm and peace. "I'm not - I mean, it really is me."

"How... how do you still know who you are? I thought that was impossible."

"We all did," I say. "That's what we were all taught. It's not true. There is a way."

"How..." She doesn't know what to ask first. "You're so... You look just like you did when I was your Padawan. But I saw you... it was _you_ in that awful armor... and... _What happened?_ "

"A _lot_ happened," I say. "And yes, I know. I was surprised at first, to find myself looking twenty-three again, but the truth of it is, that was the last time in my life when I was truly myself. Well, that's the short version of a very long story, anyway."

"I... don't think I have time for a long story, but... you came back to the Light. How?"

I smile. "My son showed me the way. Ahsoka, I really do want to tell you the _whole_ story, and I hope to have plenty of time to tell you. Will you let your old master teach you one last lesson?"

"My old..." Ahsoka shakes her head once, smiling. "The last time we saw each other alive, you tried to kill me... and now you're back. The real you."

"Those were dark times," I say regretfully. "The last time Obi-Wan and I saw each other alive, I _did_ kill him. But the crazy thing was, that wasn't the end of it. He had a trick up his sleeve that I knew nothing about, until just then. Later, when my time came, he was waiting to pass that secret on to me, and, well, here I am. I'd like to pass it on to you, if you want to learn."

"You mean, you want to teach me how to become a... whatever you are?"

"Spirit," I say. "Or as Qui-Gon puts it, a manifestation of the Living Force. He was the one who rediscovered the knowledge of how to maintain your identity and consciousness after death, and he taught Obi-Wan, who taught me."

"I could see Obi-Wan again?" she says.

"I see him all the time."

"But... I haven't called myself a Jedi in years. Am I... _allowed?_ "

"Absolutely. I didn't call myself one for years either, as you know. If anything, you deserve it even more than me. I came back to the Light, but you never left. You've been fighting for it all your life, even if not as a Jedi. That's all that matters."

Ahsoka smiles, even as tears come to her eyes. "Thank you, Anakin. Yes, I want to learn. Show me the way."

I can feel my entire being shining with joy. "Be at peace," I say. "Don't be afraid. The Force is with you. It wants you to come home." Once, it would have seemed a bit presumptuous to say such a thing, but now it feels _right._

"I knew it," she whispers. "There _was_ always good in you. Thank you... for not... not leaving me."

"You're welcome."

Finally, she lets go and lies perfectly still. 

Recalling what those first few moments of darkness were like for me, so many years ago, I dive into the netherworld of the Force to find Ahsoka, just as Obi-Wan did for me. I can sense her presence. _"Hello, Ahsoka,"_ I send her across our bond. _"Can you hear me?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Good. Now, this is the important part. Focus on remembering who you are. All of who you are. Embrace it, and give all of it over to the Force. That's the key."_

_"All right..."_

Her presence comes into sharper focus. _"Yes,"_ I send her, _"that's it. You're almost there. Just follow my presence and do exactly what I do."_

I maintain my mental connection to her as I let the peace and power of the Light Side wash over me. The blank nothingness around me gives way to a bright, serene blue - I am home. Did Ahsoka make it, too?

Yes - there she is, just a step behind me. I turn to face her. Like Obi-Wan, she remained fully herself as she aged, and therefore looks the same age she was when she died, but she is dressed in the kind of practical outfit she favored when she was an active Rebel, not in her hospital gown. All this is merely superficial, though - the bright, pure essence I perceive in the Force is unmistakably _her._

She looks around in wonder, trying to orient herself in an infinite void that is currently featureless except for me. After a moment, she laughs, cries, and reaches out to hug me. I return the embrace.

"We can touch each other?!" she manages to say between sobs.

"Sure," I say, "but as you've probably noticed, we can't cry. Well, we can, but we can't produce tears, just emotional energy waves. I would know, I've done it a _lot._ "

Ahsoka chuckles and just hugs me harder. I say nothing, simply enjoying the feeling of joining my old friend in radiating joy into the universe.

"Why is it suddenly so much _brighter_ out here?" a familiar, affectionate Coreworld-accented voice jokes. "Did a new star just ignite?"

Ahsoka looks up from my shoulder. _"Obi-Wan!"_ They run toward each other, and I follow her. Obi-Wan and I both wrap our arms around Ahsoka and cry waves of joy with her.

"Anakin..." Obi-Wan finally manages to say. "You... did you... teach her how to...?"

"I did," I say. "I guess I must be a pretty good teacher after all, right?"

Obi-Wan and Ahsoka laugh together.

"It's wonderful to see you again, Ahsoka," Obi-Wan says. "Welcome home."

"You, too!" she says. "Thanks. ...You got old."

"So did you." He laughs. "You make a grand and elegant old woman."

"Thank you. So... how does this whole spirit thing work? We look the way we think of ourselves?"

"Right on the first guess," I say.

"You said that Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon became conscious spirits... does that mean I'm the first non-human to do it?"

"The second, you are," says a familiar voice.

"Master Yoda!" Ahsoka turns away from us to face Yoda, who has just appeared beside us. She hesitates, not sure what to say to him first.

"Hello, Ahsoka," Master Yoda says. "Helped bring you here, your former Master did, hmm?"

"Yes, he did. He said I was allowed, and welcome..."

"Welcome, you are. A kind and generous thing you have done, Anakin."

"Thank you, Master," I say. "I wasn't sure if you'd approve."

Master Yoda looks up at me. "Like family to you, she was, and hard it was for you to lose her. But in the end, your most powerful ally, the love of your family was. Deny that, I cannot."

I'm surprised. That's the first positive thing he's ever had to say about my attachments to my family. "I thought you'd never come around to that point of view," I say.

Master Yoda sighs. "Difficult it is, to change one's way of thinking. Noticed how often you must stop yourself from speaking of the former Emperor as 'my Master,' I have. Only decades old, that habit is, and yet broken, it is not. Imagine breaking one after _centuries,_ can you?"

Of course. Why didn't I think of that before? "I understand, Master Yoda," I say. "And thank you."

He nods. "Much joy, I sense from you. And Ahsoka. Good it is for you to be together again."

Ahsoka beams at me, and we hug each other again. Then she pulls away. "So Palpatine really _was_ the Sith Master all along?" she says. "I figured - after that awful way he took power, and especially after he introduced his enforcer to the galaxy."

"We have a _lot_ of catching up to do," I say. "Get comfortable, this will take a while." I recline in the midst of the blue void, my hands behind my head.

"We can float here?" She tries it, too. "Wow! It really is true what the Twi'leks say about death freeing your spirit from the confines of gravity. And my back doesn't hurt anymore, either!"

"You have _no_ idea how glad I was to not be in pain anymore," I say.

"Oh, yeah - you did say you wanted to tell me _everything,_ right? Maybe we could start with how you ended up looking like... _that._ "

"Sure," I say. "Obi-Wan, Master Yoda, would you care to stay for this? There are parts of it that are really more your story."

"Of course," says Obi-Wan, happy to lend me the emotional support.

"Certainly," says Master Yoda. He sits, while Obi-Wan joins us in reclining.

The four of us spend a long time sharing our stories and memories of everything that's happened since that day when Ahsoka left the Jedi Order to pursue her own path. I get the hardest parts - Order 66 and the duel on Mustafar - out of the way first, with Obi-Wan's help. It's easier to talk about, this time - the light we all share between us is so bright that the darkness can't reach me at all.

After we've all finished sharing our respective war stories, Ahsoka and I end up trading memories of our families. She did have one, in whose company she enjoyed a comfortable and happy retirement, but she had already made her peace and said her farewells to them before she reached out into the Force. She had good friends in the Rebellion, too, and kept in touch with many of them. Obi-Wan and I are happy to welcome her back into our little family again, but it's even more wonderful to learn that she lived a full life where she was happy and loved.

**Author's Note:**

> Credits:  
> \- My core idea about how becoming a Force ghost works originated in tanarill's "Transition States," hence my use of the "Inspired by" feature. I hope I did a good enough job of paraphrasing and summarizing.  
> \- The reference to "what the Twi'leks say about death freeing your spirit from the confines of gravity" originated with the author of one of the short stories in the old-EU story collection _Tales from Jabba's Palace._ I read that book many times when I was about 12-14, and that idea was so beautiful that it has stuck with me all these years and I still consider it part of my personal Star Wars canon.
> 
> Part 4 is nearly finished and is coming in the next couple of weeks, I hope.


End file.
